ADRF and Communications International (Ci) recently announced a partnership with Florida's Martin County School District (MCSD) to bring public safety and LTE connectivity to students, first responders, and faculty at South Fork High School and Crystal Lake Elementary.
MCSD schools are also used as storm shelters due to the unfortunate frequency of hurricanes in the region, which makes it difficult for radio frequencies (RF) to get through the heavy metal and concrete walls. The new emergency responder communication enhancement systems (ERCES) and LTE network systems supplied by ADRF and installed by Ci will help ensure that strong RF signals are able to get inside every area of the schools including elevators, stairwells, and basements. On top of this, the LTE systems will provide redundancy to other connected school safety measures that currently utilize WiFi, including silent panic buttons in classrooms, autonomous emergency doors, and surveillance camera networks.
Frank Frangella, Chief of Safety & Security at MCSD commented, “We are committed to investing the resources necessary to protect children, our most precious resource. Critical communication systems are essential for our districts’ police officers, firefighters, and EMTs to communicate effectively during emergency situations and ultimately save lives. South Fork and Crystal Lake Elementary are the first two schools to receive dedicated cellular connectivity networks, with plans for additional schools underway.”
“The ERCES and LTE is built on ADRF’s ADXV distributed antenna system (DAS) and supports the pertinent public safety bands (including FirstNet Band 14) as well as commercial frequencies for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. It is one of the first commercial and public safety converged network deployments in Florida, where public safety and commercial LTE bands share the same infrastructure in accordance with the NFPA 1225 standards, including UL 2524, second edition.”
Joe Ioco, Vice President of Business Development, In-Building Wireless Division at Communications International (Ci) stated, “Every second counts in times of crisis, and there are severe consequences if students and faculty can’t call 911 or first responders are unable to coordinate on-premises. This integration ensures comprehensive signal coverage throughout buildings, enhancing both security and peace of mind for students, faculty, and the district at large. And by leveraging ADRF’s innovative converged technology we were able to deploy public safety and commercial systems within a single infrastructure to reduce costs, improve installation efficiency, and minimize disruptions to school activities.”
“We are thrilled to support Martin County School District and our longtime partner Communications International in providing the equipment to keep first responders, faculty and students connected,” said Jim Lilienfeld, Sr. Regional Manager at ADRF. “Our modular ADXV DAS ensures Martin County schools can support their needs today and easily upgrade the system should they want or need to add RF bands to the system in the future."
